


Creation of the Marauders

by Xx_chaotic_bi_xX



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animagus, Attempt at Humor, Author regrets nothing, Developing Friendships, Dorks, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Gryffindors - Freeform, Humor, I'm Bad At Tagging, Indian James Potter, James Potter as Prongs, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Minor James Potter/Lily Evans, Moony - Freeform, My First Fanfic, No hate against kid Peter, POV Remus Lupin, Padfoot - Freeform, Person of Color James Potter, Peter is too young to be a traitor, Poor Remus, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Prongs - Freeform, Quidditch, Quidditch Player James Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black as Padfoot, Teenage Dorks, The Marauder's Map, Werewolf, Wormtail - Freeform, angst at the end, animagi, so i present soft boi #4, soft bois, these bois needed more spotlight so here i am
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-29 12:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21410110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xx_chaotic_bi_xX/pseuds/Xx_chaotic_bi_xX
Summary: Remus Lupin has no idea why he ever befriended the ragtag group of three incompetent idiots, but he did. Even though he gets thoroughly exasperated with them, these little moments are things he can fondly look back on.Note: Most things are made up, except for the Homonculous Charm and the Animagus process.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10





	1. The Name

Remus, for the life of him, could not understand how he befriended the very idiots that were pigging out in the Great Hall next to him. James and Sirius were practically miniature black holes as they shoved food down their throats so fast that it looked like they had placed a super speed jinx on themselves.  


Remus was staring at them, judgingly, while his food slowly scooted off his fork into freedom. He took notice and tried eating his food before it got cold, but watching those two had the power to quickly diminish one’s own appetite. Peter gave an awed squeak beside him, and Remus noticed that he had barely touched his food. James suddenly stopped eating, and started speaking. Which Remus thought was a good change from the past lunches they had on the first two days.  


“Hey-”  


“Hi.” Remus said, blandly. James pursed his lips, and gave a look that said ‘don’t interrupt me’. Remus raised his hands in mock surrender.  


“We need a name for ourselves!” James perked back up as if the last 10 seconds hadn’t happened.  


“We do have names for ourselves. Here, I’ll start. My names Remus-” James interrupted him with an eye-roll.  


“Geez, ever the sarcastic one. No, I meant a group name!”  


“Oh, let’s also make code names for ourselves. So whenever we do pranks they can’t punish us, ‘cause they won’t know who we are.” Sirius added. James turned to Sirius, and for a split second, Remus thought they were going to kiss.  


“You’re a genius Sirius!”James beamed.  


“I know.” Sirius said, smugly. Remus stared at them blankly, and Peter shifted excitedly.  


“You are the biggest dorks in this entire school, and it is only the third day of first year.” James and Sirius pouted in unison, and Remus thought they looked like those weird cherubs that muggles put in their gardens.  


“Okay, so as the unofficial leader of this group, I hereby declare Remus Lupin now be called ‘Wolf Wolf!’” James said, pointing his finger directly at Remus’s nose. Sirius tilted his head in thought and Remus blinked. Peter nodded quickly, but even he looked a little doubtful.  


“Why?” Was the first thing that came out of Remus’s mouth. James faltered.  


“What do you mean, why?”  


“I mean, why that name? Out of all of the names you could’ve chosen, you went with that one?” James visibly deflated.  


“Well then, if you’re going to be such a prat about names, why don’t you pick something different?” James frowned. Sirius snickered, but he quieted when he saw Remus’s contemplative look.  


“Okay then, I hereby declare James Potter, ‘Jim the Prick’. I declare Sirius Black ‘White Constellation,’ and I declare one Peter Pettigrew, ‘the Mouse.’” James and Sirius gaped and Peter hummed thoughtfully. Could’ve been worse, he shrugged.  


“No! Those names suck!” Sirius cried out. Remus felt kind of offended despite the names being a joke.  


“Well we tried, so how about we just stop while we’re behind.” Remus fruitfully tried. James and Sirius ignored him and began talking to each other in low voices. Remus sighed and glanced tiredly around the room. He noticed Dumbledore looking at them with his eyes twinkling. Remus smiled but felt a bit of unease. Could Dumbledore hear them from there? Could the teachers? Remus drifted back into the conversation, just in time to hear Sirius announce the names he had chosen for them.  


“Okay, so our group will be called ‘Animal Pack.’ Peter, your name will be ‘Twilight.’ I will be ‘Midnight.’ James will be ‘Star-light,’ and Remus will be ‘Moonlight.’” Remus snorted very loudly before he could stop himself. James and Sirius gave equally offended glares to the snickering Remus and Peter. Peter chuckled a bit before he spoke in a small voice.  


“I don’t think thats gonna work.” Peter said, his lips quivering with held in giggles.  


“Why not?” James crossed his arms. Remus interrupted Peter before he had the chance to answer.  


“If we go by those names, we will be the biggest dweebs in the entire Wizarding World, and no amount of magic or memory erasing will ever be able to change that.” Remus stated bluntly.  


“Well geez, go easy on us why don’t ya!” James pouted.  


“Fine, what about ‘The Crusaders?’” Peter asked. Remus snorted but admitted that it was better than ‘Animal Pack.’  


“What would our codenames be then? Pope Urban, Peter the Hermit, Saladin, and Richard?” Peter, James, and Sirius looked at him blankly.  


“Who?” Sirius asked.  


“Nevermind.” Remus sighed. “I just think that maybe we should wait until we’re at least a month into the year, rather than three days. I hardly know you, so how am I ever going to be able to come up with nicknames for you.” James and Sirius begrudgingly admitted that he had a point.  
Professor McGonagall suddenly walked up and stood behind James and Sirius. Her scowl made Remus tense up.  


“What are you four up to? I hope for everyone’s sake that you aren’t planning another round of fireworks.” She scowled at them. Remus blushed against his own will.  


“No, we promise to be good little boys from here on out!” Sirius put his hand on his chest and leaned forward, very dramatically might he add.  


“I sincerely doubt that Mr. Black. If you and Mr. Potter continue your marauding antics, there will be detentions and lsot House points.” She turned away with a derisive sniff, and started walking back to the teachers table. Remus relaxed his shoulders and his jaw, which he hadn’t noticed that he had clenched. When he turned back around he noticed Peter with a pondering expression.  


“Hey guys” Peter started to talk. James and Sirius paused in their tiny debate and gave him side glances.  


“What?” Sirius asked with a raised brow.  


"What about ‘The Marauders?’” Peter asked, nervously.  


“What about them?” Sirius asked in a moment of stupidity. Remus almost face- palmed so hard that he projected himself into the astral plane.  


“What? No! I mean, what about the name ‘The Marauders,’ for us?” James tilted his head in thought and after a moment or two, the silence being filled by Sirius’s embarrassed muttering, James looked up with a grin.  


“I think you’ve got the right idea there mate!”


	2. Reminiscing About Success

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> God, they were really going to make Remus work even more. Yippee.

It was a dark and storm- no. It was a lovely and cool evening in the Gryffindor tower, where the Marauders were lounging about. James was draped over the back of the sofa, glasses askew, and Sirius was laying upside down beside him. Remus, the only normal one in this godforsaken group, was sitting normally, like a normal person. 

Peter was also there but he was asleep in the armchair closest to the fire, so he was slumped over. Meaning he didn’t count. His snores and the crackling fire were the only sounds heard, as all three of them were trying to do their homework. Keyword: trying. Remus was doing pretty well, considering the fact that he was halfway through his Transfiguration essay on ‘Reparo’. James and Sirius attempted to do their Potions homework, but they eventually gave up and were now talking avidly about Quidditch. 

“The best position is obviously chaser! Even if your opponents seeker does catch the snitch, it's up to the chasers to be a ton of points ahead so you still win!” James ranted. His glasses dangled precariously on the edge of his nose. 

“Well what about the keeper! Its that blokes job to keep chasers from scoring! And the match would never end without the seeker!” Sirius countered. His hair bounced as he nodded to emphasize his point. How his head wasn’t bursting from all the blood rushing into it, he’ll never know. But maybe it didn;t affect him because his head is so emtpy that it needs filling. Remus smirked to himself. Remus felt a headache brew, and his eyes started aching, so he decided to just set down his quill and take a break. Just a short one. Before long, Remus felt unconsciousness take over and he fell asleep. 

Hours later, he noticed it was dark out now, he woke up to the sounds of a low conversation between Sirius and James, who were doing their best to keep quiet. Both were sitting normally now. Remus drowsily lifted himself and brushed off the parchment on his chest. 

He started listening to the conversation and found that they were discussing what pranks they should do for the upcoming Halloween feast. Remus frowned and hopelessly sighed. Those two were never going to stop, and it was bloody exhausting trying to get them to. 

“What if we got Filibuster fireworks and charmed them to explode into a picture of the Gryffindor lion?” James whispered excitedly. Sirius responded back with equal enthusiasm. 

“After they explode we can place Tarantallegra on the Slytherins, and turn their hair red and gold for revenge from the last Quidditch match!” Sirius said with a smirk of amusement. 

“Bloody brilliant!” James replied. 

“We need something to help with our pranks. Something that can show us where teachers are so we never got caught.” Sirius mused.

“How about a map?” Remus sleepily replied, his eyes still closed. 

“Remus, you’re awake!” James and Sirius said in unison. 

“I know. Its bloody awful.” Remus grunted as he sat up.

“Wait, what did you say?” James paused. 

“I said ‘I know. It's bloody awful.’” Remus gave James an unimpressed stare.

“No no, before that!” James shifted impatiently, waving his hand as though that would make Remus talk faster. 

“How about a map?” Remus asked, uncertain.

“Yes! What if we made a map that shows the entire castle and everyone in it at all times!” Sirius gasped.

“Yes!”

“That would be very advanced magic for a bunch of two years. I doubt we would be able to pull it off.” Remus sighed with fake sadness. “Oh well. Guess you need a new idea.” 

“Thats where you’re wrong! We have you and Frank for friends, and both of you are brilliant in charms! We can even ask Flitwick vague questions if we get stuck! The Marauders can do anything if they set their mind to it!” James said, his voice speaking firmly as if rousing a crowd. Sirius hummed with excitement, clearly ready for the map to poof from an idea into existence. 

“If only you could be this inspired to do your homework.” Remus muttered. 

“Homework is boring, but this is fun! Plus, you know I get good grades so why bother?” James shrugged.

“Why bother? Honestly.” Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius snickered. They all heard a loud sudden snort. Peter was awake. 

“What’d I mis’?” Peter asked blearily. James and Sirius exchanged excited looks.

~~~~~~~~THIS IS A LINE BREAK BECAUSE I CAN~~~~~~~~~

Their plan was finally beginning to take off, after they filled in Peter of course, and the next months were spent researching and testing all different kinds of charms. 

“We need something to conceal the map when we’re not using it. So other people can’t take advantage of it.” James suggested tiredly, his words muffled due to the fact that he was lying with his forehead plastered to the table. The other glanced warily at each other. None wanted to go back in the fray to search for a book the library may not even have.

“I’ll find it.” Remus sighed. Everyone else let out a relieved breath. This routine continued for a more weeks, and then they found it.

“I got it!” Peter squeaked in excitement, staring at the book in his hands. The other three immediately turned to Peter with expectant faces. Peter looked nervous with all of the attention suddenly on him. 

“Um, okay here, ‘The Homonculous Charm is a charm that when cast onto a map, will enable its possessor to track the movements of all persons in the area selected, through labeled moving dots that will be shown with a symbol chosen by the possessor. Ranging from moving footprints to small diamonds.’” As Peter spoke, the other three’s faces were slowly lighting up, and once he was finished, they burst into cheers. They all reached forward and hugged the life out of Peter. Madam Pince immediately appeared in front of them with an agitated hiss. 

“Quiet!” She glared at them. They silenced themselves and each muttered their own apologies. Remus gave a sheepish smile and she turned to him with a look that said ‘control your friends’. Then she was gone, with a scowl still on her face. James and Sirius were still half holding on to Peter muttering incoherent praises and babbles. Peter was blushing so fiercely Remus feared that he would stay a tomato for the rest of the year. 

“Get ahold of yourselves!” Remus hissed while he looked around, clearly embarrassed. “Peter, can you please finish the passage so we know what to do.” Remus said with a glare directed at James and Sirius who huffed.

“Um. ‘The Homonculous Charm can only be cast once you have completed the entire map. You must then cast the charm ‘Revelio’ which will reveal all persons in the immediate vicinity pertaining to the possessors current location. While ‘Revelio’ is still in its process, you must cast the Homonculous Charm to transfer your data onto the map. The possessor(s) must do this until they have everyone they wish to have on the map.’ And that-that's it.” Peter fumbled when he realized the other Marauders were staring intensely at him.   
“So it says nothing about concealing the map from others?” James asked with one last hope. 

“Jamie, we have been through the entire Charms and Transfigurations sections of the library. It isn’t mentioned anywhere.” Sirius sullenly replied. James blew out a breath but then he perked back up with an idea. 

“Okay, so we’ll have to make a charm!” He said brightly. The other three stared at him. Remus placed his head in his hands, feeling another Marauder-caused headache coming on. Sirius and Peter blankly stared at James like he was an idiot. 

“We’re in second year. How in the hell do you expect a group of second years to be able to successfully create a new charm. Some grown wizards have problems with that. And have I mentioned, we’re twelve.” Remus hissed. James stubbornly shook his head. 

“We can pull it off. We’re going to pull it off, even if we have to do every sheet of homework, every activity our teachers give us, and read every book in this stupid library!” James said, standing up. 

“God, you’re such a Gryffindor. I can feel the leadership from over here.” Lily grumbled as she walked past with a book. All of the Marauders looked at her. They hadn’t expected her to be there. James immediately lost all previous confidence, and he unconsciously started running his hand through his hair. 

“Oh-oh hey Evans! Would you like to-” James started.

“No.” Lily cut him off and left the library. James deflated.

“Okay.” He mumbled after her. 

“Mate, you should maybe consider that Evans would never ever go on a date with you. Ever. Especially after she called you a ‘bullying toe-rag’ in first year.” Sirius said with amusement heavy in his voice. 

“It was just a misunderstanding. Maybe one day she’ll come around! I mean, she can’t say no forever, right?” James said, optimistically.

“Yes. Yes, she can.” Sirius said, crushing James’ dreams. 

“Okay, so if we’re done talking about James’ love life, we should probably work on the map. You know, the map we’ve been researching for months? That one?” Remus raised his eyebrow. 

“Right.” All of them turned back to the books.

“Okay, so here's the plan. We’ll sneak out at night with the cloak, every night until we have all of the castle mapped out, secret passageways included. Once we’re done, we can wait until all of Gryffindor is asleep and cast ‘Revelio’ so we have our entire house on the map. Then, the day after, we’ll cast it in the Great Hall so we get the teachers, Hagrid, Filch, and the other three houses on the map.” James said.

“We might miss a few people who aren’t there though. There are plenty who don’t go to breakfast.” Remus countered.

“Absolutely mental people, but you have a point.” Sirius waved his hand in Remus’s direction. 

“So we’ll just do small checks in every class from time to time.” James said. 

“Small check, in class? Do you know how quickly that’d get us caught.” Sirius raised an eyebrow. James gnawed on the inside of his cheek as he thought. 

“We’ll do it in the hallway then. Act as if the parchment is homework, and the person who is holding the map can do the spell, while everyone else starts complaining about it...?” James trailed off. 

“You know, that’s actually not that bad of a plan.” Remus finished. They all grinned and set to work.


	3. The Making of the Map

Every night, the four (sometimes three when Remus visited his sick mother) snuck out under the cloak and traveled to each part of the castle. While they were visiting each section, the castle felt so much bigger than they had fathomed in their first year. 

While exploring, they had discovered 13 secret passages, the kitchens, the teachers quarters, and a special room called the “Room of Requirement.” They had been working nonstop for almost two months, and they had even decided to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas break so they could work with little interruption. 

The morning after they completed the layout of the map, they were exhausted but triumphant and they ate their breakfast with a new gusto that the rest of Hogwarts hadn’t seen in a long time. The only problem they had left was getting all of the students and staff to appear on the map before everyone left for Christmas break. 

For the next three days, Remus and Sirius were stuck in the library pouring over books and writing down notes, while James and Peter were found loudly complaining about homework to the chagrin of many students. Whenever they began, most students would groan while Lily and Snivellus would roll their eyes and sneer. 

Finally, it was time for the last ‘Revelio’. Every other Gryffindor had gone to bed and they were the last ones sitting in the common room. They cautiously brought out the completed map and said the charm. Only six new pairs of footprints appeared on the map, but it felt like a huge leap for them. They had finally completed the second stage of the map. 

“We did it. We really did it.” Sirius whispered in awe. Peter nodded numbly, and Remus felt a burst of pride for all of them. 

“Yeah.” James replied, his eyes practically stars as he stared at the map. Remus shook his head slightly. 

“Now we have to consider what codes we would use for the map.” Remus frowned. 

“We can figure that out sometime else. I’m going to go pass out now.” Sirius said, waving goodbye as he traveled up the stairs into their dorm. The others shrugged and followed him.

The next few days were spent having a break, and just hanging out. They had decided to work on the codes after the Christmas Eve Feast, which had so few students that everyone in the hall sat at the same table. Once it was over, everyone migrated back to their dorm rooms for the night; which is where the Marauders were now. 

“Do we really need something cool to say when it appears? Why can’t we just say something like ‘pumpkin juice’ and be done?” Remus said. They had been arguing for over an hour about the codewords, and Remus just wanted to sleep. 

“Okay okay, for the beginning we should do ‘No good will come of this’ and for the end we should do ‘Chaos achieved.’” Sirius silenced everyone with his hands before saying anything, and once he was finished they burst back into loud chatter. Remus was so glad he had put the Muffliato charm on their room. 

“I think you’re close, but its just missing something! It should be like a catchphrase instead of a regular sentence. It needs a zing!” James said, waving his hands in the air. 

“For the end of Sirius’ idea, I have a small suggestion.” Peter said. Remus quickly turned to him, hoping for an end to this.

“It should be mischief instead of chaos.” Peter said.

“Mischief achieved?” Sirius hummed. “That does sound a bit better.” 

“OH! I have an idea for both!” James shouted. Peter looked a little peeved that his moment was ruined. 

“For the first bit we should say ‘I swear that I’m not up to good.’ And Peter had a good point that we should say mischief,” James nodded in acknowledgement, “but instead of achieved, it should be managed!” He finished with a flourish.

“‘I swear that I’m not up to good’ and ‘Mischief Managed.’” Remus rolled the words around on his tongue. 

“Okay, I like the end bit, so all in favor of keeping that say ‘ay.’” Everyone agreed so Sirius wrote the phrase down on a small slip of parchment. 

“I think James is on to something, but in order for it to be catchphrase, it would have to be less clunky.” Remus said. James nodded as everyone else thought about the phrase.

“Lets get rid of ‘not.’” Sirius replied. 

“Hm, how about ‘I swear that I’m up to no good.’” Peter suggested.

“I think that’s it, but we need one more word, you know?” Sirius flapped his hand. Everyone else rolled their eyes. 

“Ooh! How about ‘I solemnly swear that I’m up to no good!’” Peter shouted. 

“Yes!” Sirius pointed his hand at Peter in agreement. Remus and James quickly agreed and cast the charm on the map. 

“Okay, let’s test it.” Remus said nervously. He touched the tip of his wand to the now blank piece of paper. “I solemnly swear that I’m up to no good.” Ink re-appeared on the paper to form the map they had all gotten accustomed to seeing. Immediately the other three brust into loud cheers, and no one commented when they saw Peter sob with relief and pride. Remus was grinning so hard he felt joyful tears appear in the corners of his eyes. James and Sirius were hugging while jumping up and down. 

“Wait!” Remus said, still grinning. The others looked at him in confusion, but still smiling. “We have to test whether it will be concealed. The others immediately stared at him in anticipation. Sirius crossed his fingers, James bit his lip, and Peter fidgeted. 

“Mischief Managed.” Remus said, and the map disappeared. The second cheer was even louder than the first, and they all ended up in a tearful cuddle pile on the floor when they were done. The grins on their faces was the only evidence left. Remus glanced over to the clock on the wall, and smiled even wider. 

“Happy Christmas you three.” They looked up startled and smiled when they realized the time.

“Happy Christmas!” They echoed.


End file.
